Courtesy of https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-03/comedy-wildlife-photography-awards-2021-finalists/100432524
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Comedy ‘Acts’ in the World of Wild Life
Filed under accountability, landscape wondrous, performance, photography, travelogue, wild life
Auckland Atrocities: Grounded Appraisals from Sri Lankans
I present several comments from Sri Lankans in New Zealand and Sri Lanka
A NOTE from SM in Colombo, 7 Sept 2021
It is high time for countries to cut hard on organisations promoting and practicing extremist ideologies whether they be religious, ethnic, separatist, or nationalist. The UK extended its ban on the LTTE a few days back which is a welcome development. Canada should practice what they preach. With an election round the corner, the Liberal Trudeau govt soft peddles the LTTE issue in order to garner Canadian Tamil votes. The Canadian government’s sponsorship of TGWA is a case in point.
Countries that ignore, or aid and abet violent extremism will reap what they sow.
Filed under accountability, asylum-seekers, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, ethnicity, fundamentalism, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, martyrdom, Muslims in Lanka, politIcal discourse, press freedom & censorship, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, taking the piss, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, trauma, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, world events & processes, zealotry
Sri Lanka’s Tea Country Trail from Yesteryear with Julia Margaret Cameron
Juliet Coombe
Sri Lanka’s Tea Country Trail. 582 likes · 9 talking about this. The Tea Country Trail is a proposed 310 km long-distance hiking trail through the Sri Lankan Tea Country. The trail winds its way…
Filed under art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, meditations, photography, pilgrimages, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people, working class conditions, world events & processes
Revealing Headlines & Videos from Afghanistan
- Anthony Loyd in The Weekend Australian, 3 September 2021: “Battle is joined for Afghanistan’s never-conquered guerrilla heartland,”
- Rodger Shanahan: in The Weekend Australian, 3 September 2021: “Impacts on Western security of Afghanistan withdrawal far from settled”
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, atrocities, historical interpretation, human rights, Islamic fundamentalism, life stories, military strategy, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, transport and communications, trauma, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
Anne Abayasekara: Telling It Like It Is
Telling It Like It Is …. is a compilation of a few of the journalistic writings of Anne Abayasekara.
She was born Annette Aurelia Ameresekere in April 1925. In the field of journalism, she was a Sri Lankan pioneer, entering what was a male dominated profession in the early 1940s. At Lake House, before reaching 22 years of age, she was appointed Editress of the Women’s Pages in the Ceylon Daily News and Sunday Observer, being the only female in the Editorial Department.
Filed under charitable outreach, citizen journalism, cultural transmission, education, female empowerment, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, press freedom & censorship, reconciliation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, women in ethnic conflcits, world events & processes
Addressing Jehan Perera’s Recent Piece on Reconciliation in Sri Lanka
Lakshman Gunasekara …. with highlighting and a cartoon imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
What ‘re-conciliation’ ??
Jehan Perera, a very good friend and long-time colleague, at least uses the term “re-conciliation” which was intelligently adopted by the Mahinda regime at the end of the military phase of the ethnic conflict (with a resounding defeat for the LTTE). That regime conveniently picked up that word from among local liberal activists who had begun using it — taking it from South African post-Apartheid peace-building parlance.
Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, chauvinism, communal relations, constitutional amendments, democratic measures, economic processes, education, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, legal issues, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, tolerance, unusual people, world events & processes
In Appreciation of Professor Lakshman Jayathilake, Committed Engineering Professor & Patriot
Lionel Bopage, in The Sri Lankan Guardian, Septmber 2021, where the title reads “My Indelible Memories of Professor CLV Jayathilake” …. with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi
I am extremely saddened by the news I heard this morning, that Emeritus Professor CLV (Lakshman) Jayathilake, a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers, Sri Lanka, has succumbed to Covid and passed away. He has impacted my life in many ways on several occasions.
When I was studying at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, he was a lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department. I was studying for a Mechanical and Electrical combined degree in engineering, a rare combination at the time.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, constitutional amendments, discrimination, education, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, insurrections, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, working class conditions, world events & processes
Turmoil & Transformation in Afghanistan: A Sri Lankan Writer’s Assessment of the situation NOW
Lynn Ockersz, in The Island, 2 September 2021, where the title is “Power and sovereignty issues come to the fore in Afghanistan”
“More and more strength to those women and other vulnerable groups that are mustering for their rights in Afghanistan right now.” This is likely to be the wish of progressives everywhere. The enormity of their courage could be gauged from the fact that they are in direct confrontation with the Taliban who are no champions of fundamental rights. Now more than ever before, women’s organizations the world over and international progressive opinion need to rally round these protesting sections in Afghanistan.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, world events & processes
Western Imperialism in Retreat …. and in Vain
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, Islamic fundamentalism, landscape wondrous, life stories, military expenditure, military strategy, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, taking the piss, transport and communications, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry
Mevan Pieris: From Cricket Ball to Books, Phials & Paintbrush
MEVAN PIERIS has recently turned his mind to artwork with paintbrush, while yet sustaining his commitment to the academic disciplines in which he has devoted his endeavours during the past few decades by reproducing and/or renovating portraitures of eminent scientists; while also creating paintings of his own — both portraits and scenarios.
This is a photograph of the restored painting of Professor Juan Pedige Charles Chandrasena who joined the University College in 1923 and was Professor of Chemistry in 1932 and retired or died soon afterwards. This Portrait is unsigned and the guess is that it is the work of David Paynter. The painting was in a very bad state with certain areas of the canvas having deteriorated and sprinkled all over with wall paint through neglect. The frame was also damaged and here and there the paint had begun to peel off.
Filed under Australian culture, cricket for amity, education, Eelam, ethnicity, heritage, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, photography, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, teaching profession, travelogue, Uncategorized, unusual people, world events & processes
